From the makers of Prevues of Coming Attractions Vol. 1: Giallorama comes another collection of exploitation movie trailers. This time around, the focus is on the Blaxploitation trend of the ‘70s. At seventy-one minutes, it makes for a breezy recap of the genre, but I for one was hoping for something a bit more thorough and exhaustive.
I don’t really have a problem with the trailers that we do get. (Even though many of them have appeared on countless other compilations before.) I mean, it’s hard to complain when you have a nice mix of Blaxploitation classics like Blacula, Foxy Brown, and Dolemite as well as some more obscure titles such as Honky, Black Girl, and Cool Breeze. However, there are some notable omissions that are sorely missed. While we do have the trailer for Shaft, there is no mention of Shaft’s Big Score or Shaft in Africa. Additionally, the absence of both Super Fly and Super Fly TNT is quite glaring.
On the plus side, the trailers are shown in chronological order, which is a big plus. This helps to showcase the growth of the genre and how it progressed (or regressed depending on your point of view) from dramatic fare like They Call Me Mister Tibbs! to more exploitative stuff like Mandingo. Despite the quibbles I have with the collection, I must admit that the chronological approach works much better than the random assemblage of trailers found in most compilations.
In case you’re wondering, here’s the complete trailer line-up: They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Honky, Shaft, Black Girl, Blacula, Cool Breeze, Cleopatra Jones, Coffy, Savage!, Scream Blacula Scream, Sweet Jesus Preacherman, Black Samson, Foxy Brown, Mean Mother, Sugar Hill, Truck Turner, The Black Gestapo, Boss, Bucktown, Dolemite, Friday Foster (“Never Fear! Pam Grier is Here!”), Mandingo, Sheba Baby, Take a Hard Ride, Welcome Home Brother Charles (AKA: Soul Vengeance), Black Shampoo, Dr. Black Mr. Hyde, The Human Tornado, The Guy from Harlem, and Disco Godfather.
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